ManiaPlanet has news that beta 3.0 RC1 is now available for ShootMania: Storm, adding some big changes to the testing of Nadeo's upcoming multiplayer first-person shooter. A number of new features are mentioned, including a new conquest-style gameplay mode called Realm that involves controlling key map areas to secure victory. They also outline other changes and fixes, and this forum post offers the complete patch notes for the new version, which is a 1.3 GB download. Thanks Frans.

It may be because they don't want to make any gameplay tweaks once they release the game?The physics in Trackmania games is locked down at release. I suppose that could be different because of the nature of driving games and replays and records, though.